Eric Powell (March 3, 1975) is an American comic book writer/artist, best known as the creator of ''

The Goon ''The'' () is a grammatical Article (grammar), article in English language, English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite ...

''.

Career

Powell has written and provided artwork for

Dark Horse A dark horse is a previously lesser-known person or thing that emerges to prominence in a situation, especially in a competition involving multiple rivals, or a contestant that on paper should be unlikely to succeed but yet still might. Origin Th ...

DC Comics DC Comics, Inc. (doing business as DC) is an American comic book publisher and the flagship unit of DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC Comics is one of the largest and oldest American comic book companies, with thei ...

and

Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is an American comic book publishing, publisher and the flagship property of Marvel Entertainment, a divsion of The Walt Disney Company since September 1, 2009. Evolving from Timely Comics in 1939, ''Magazine Management/Atlas Co ...

, but is most regarded for his original series ''

'', which debuted from the small publisher

Avatar Press Avatar Press is an independent American comic book publisher founded in 1996 by William A. Christensen, and based in Rantoul, Illinois. Avatar Press is most notable for publishing Bad girl art, bad girl comics, such as ''Faust (Avatar Press), Fau ...

. Powell quickly switched to self-publishing under the moniker Albatross Exploding Funny Books,Johnston, Rich
"Eric Powell Brings The Goon & Albatross Funnybooks Back To Dark Horse,"
''Bleeding Cool'' (September 20, 2022). before being picked up by Dark Horse after only a handful of issues. ''The Goon'''s quality was recognized with an

Eisner Award The Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards, commonly shortened to the Eisner Awards, are prizes given for creative achievement in American comic books, sometimes referred to as the comics industry's equivalent of the Academy Awards. They are named in ...

in 2004 for Best Single Issue (Dark Horse ''The Goon'' #1) as well as an International Horror Guild award. The following year, Powell won Eisner's Best Humor Publication and Best Continuing Series awards. He is a featured interviewee in the movie ''Independents''. Powell co-wrote the first two volumes of IDW's '' Godzilla: Kingdom of Monsters'' with Tracy Marsh. In 2022, Powell's self-publishing venture, Albatross Funny Books, was moved to

Dark Horse Comics Dark Horse Comics is an American comic book, graphic novel, and manga publisher founded in Milwaukie, Oregon by Mike Richardson in 1986. The company was created using funds earned from Richardson's chain of Portland, Oregon comic book shops known ...

as an imprint, bringing along such titles as ''The Goon'', ''Hillbilly'', ''Big Man Plans'', '' Galaktikon'' (

Brendon Small Brendon Small (born February 15, 1975) is an American actor, stand-up comedian, animator, writer, director, producer, and musician known for co-creating the animated series ''Home Movies'' (1999–2004, with Loren Bouchard) and '' Metalocalypse'' ...

), and ''Pug Davis'' (

Rebecca Sugar Rebecca Rea Sugar (born July 9, 1987) is an American animator and screenwriter. She is best known for being the creator of the Cartoon Network series ''Steven Universe'', making her the first non-binary person to independently create a series for ...

).Dar, Taimur
"Eric Powell brings THE GOON and his Albatross Funnybooks imprint to Dark Horse Comics: 'I’m very excited for what the future holds and the new opportunities to be found,'"
''The Beat'' (Sept. 20, 2022).

Awards

* 2004: **

International Horror Guild Award The International Horror Guild Award (also known as the IHG Award) was an accolade recognizing excellence in the field of Horror fiction, horror/dark fantasy, presented by the International Horror Guild (IHG) from 1995 to 2008. The IHG Awards wer ...

for Best Illustrated Narrative (''The Goon'' #1-4) **

for Best Single Issue (''The Goon'' #1) *

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...

: ** Eisner Award for Best Humor Publication (''The Goon'') ** Eisner Award for Best Continuing Series (''The Goon'') *

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

: ** Eisner Award for Best Writer/Artist-Humor (''The Goon'') ** Eisner Award for Best Painter/Multimedia Artist (''The Goon: Chinatown'')

Bibliography

*''Big Man Plans'' (with writer Tim Weisch) (

Image Comics Image Comics is an American comic book publisher and is the third largest comic book and graphic novel publisher in the industry in both unit and market share. It was founded in 1992 by several high-profile illustrators as a venue for creator-ow ...

, 2015) — 4-issue limited series *'' Billy the Kid's Old-Timey Oddities'' (with artist

Kyle Hotz Kyle Hotz is an American Comics artist, comic book artist and Comics writer, writer. His work has appeared in series published by Marvel Comics, DC Comics and Dark Horse Comics. Comics career Hotz graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts, bachel ...

, TPB collects ''Billy the Kid's Old-Timey Oddities'' #1-4,

, 2006, ) *''Chimichanga'' #1-3 (with artist

Stephanie Buscema John Buscema (; ; born Giovanni Natale Buscema, December 11, 1927 – January 10, 2002)Social Se ...

) (

Albatross Exploding Funny Books Eric Powell (March 3, 1975) is an American comic book writer/artist, best known as the creator of ''The Goon''. Career Powell has written and provided artwork for Dark Horse, DC Comics and Marvel Comics, but is most regarded for his original ser ...

, 2009–2010) *''Conan'' #28 (with writer

Kurt Busiek Kurt Busiek ( ) (born September 16, 1960) is an American comic book writer. His work includes the ''Marvels'' limited series, his own series titled ''Astro City'', a four-year run on ''The Avengers (comic book), The Avengers, Thunderbolts (comics ...

, 2006) *''

The Dark Horse Book of the Dead ''The Dark Horse Book of...'' was the banner title given to a series of four Dark Horse Comics one-shot hardcover comic book horror anthologies edited by Scott Allie and featuring the work of Mike Mignola and others. In 2017 Dark Horse collected ...

'' — contributed the short story "The Wallace Expedition", TPB,

, 2006, *''Did You Hear What Eddie Gein Done?'' (with

Harold Schechter Harold Schechter (born June 28, 1948) is an American true crime writer who specializes in serial killers. He is a Professor Emeritus at Queens College, City University of New York where he taught classes in American literature and myth criticism ...

) (Albatross Funny Books, 2021) *''

'': **''Best Cellars'' #1 — 1st appearance of Monster Boy, a Goon prototype **''Avatar Illustrated 1998'' (

) **''Dreamwalker'' #0 (

) — ''The Goon'' preview, a 4-page back-up story later reprinted in ''The Goon'' #1 **''Dreamwalker'' #1 (

avatar Press Avatar Press is an independent American comic book publisher founded in 1996 by William A. Christensen, and based in Rantoul, Illinois. Avatar Press is most notable for publishing Bad girl art, bad girl comics, such as ''Faust (Avatar Press), Fau ...

) (Carousel) — 3-page preview of ''The Goon'' (came out after ''Goon'' #1) **''The Goon'' #1-3 (

) — issue #1 features the first appearance of The Goon, Franky, Joey the ball, and Zombie Priest; issue #3 is the origin of the Goon **''The Goon #1-Present'' (

) **''The Goon: Chinatown'' (Dark Horse, 2007) **''The Goon: Fancy Pants Edition Volume 1'' — limited edition hardcover collecting ''The Goon'' #1-2 (self published), #1,3,5,9 (Dark Horse Comics, 2005) **''The Goon: Fancy Pants Edition Volume 2: The Rise and Fall of the Diabolical Dr. Alloy'' (Dark Horse, 2008) — limited edition hardcover **''The Goon: Rough Stuff'' (Dark Horse, 2004) — TPB collects ''The Goon'' #1-3 (Avatar Press) **''The Goon Volume 1: Nothin' But Misery'' (Dark Horse, 2003) — TPB collects ''The Goon'' #1-4, The Goon Color Special (self-published), **''The Goon Volume 2: My Murderous Childhood (and Other Grievous Yarns)'' (

, 2004) — TPB collects ''The Goon'' #1-4 ) **''The Goon Volume 3: Heaps Of Ruination'' (Dark Horse, 2005) — TPB collects ''The Goon'' #5-8 **''The Goon Volume 4: Virtue and the Grim Consequences Thereof'' (Dark Horse, 2006) — TPB collects ''The Goon'' #9-13 **''The Goon Volume 5: Wicked Inclinations'' (Dark Horse, 2006) — TPB collects ''The Goon'' #14-18 **''The Goon Volume 6: Chinatown'' (Dark Horse, 2007) **''The Goon Volume 7: A Place of Heartache and Grief'' (Dark Horse, 2009) — TPB collects ''The Goon'' #19-23 **''The Goon Volume 8: Those That is Damned'' (Dark Horse, 2009) — TPB collects ''The Goon'' #24-27 **''The Goon Volume 9: Calamity of Conscience'' (Dark Horse, 2009) — TPB collects ''The Goon'' #28-31 **''Satan’s Sodomy Baby'' (

, 2007, ASIN B0012393S4) *''Hillbilly'' (Albatross Exploding Funny, 2016–current) *''Marvel Monsters:

Devil Dinosaur Devil Dinosaur is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character is depicted as resembling an enormous, crimson colored ''Tyrannosaurus''-like theropod dinosaur. Created by Jack Kirby, the chara ...

'' (

, 2005, ASIN B002YB9Y2I) * ''Spook House'' (Albatross Funnybooks, 2016–2017) — anthology with other creators *''

Superman Superman is a superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, and debuted in the comic book ''Action Comics'' #1 (cover-dated June 1938 and publi ...

: Escape from Bizarro World'' (with writers

Geoff Johns Geoffrey Johns (born January 25, 1973) is an American comic book writer, screenwriter, and film and television producer. Johns's work on the DC Comics characters Green Lantern, Aquaman, Flash and Superman, has drawn critical acclaim. He serve ...

and

Richard Donner Richard Donner (born Richard Donald Schwartzberg; April 24, 1930 – July 5, 2021) was an American filmmaker whose notable works included some of the most financially-successful films during the New Hollywood era. According to film historian M ...

, TPB collects "Action Comics" #855-857,

, 2007, )

Books illustrated

* ''Billy Hooten: Owlboy'' (with author Thomas E. Sniegoski, published by

Yearling Books Random House is an American book publisher and the largest general-interest paperback publisher in the world. The company has several independently managed subsidiaries around the world. It is part of Penguin Random House, which is owned by Germ ...

, 2008, )

Cover work

*'' Arkham Asylum: Living Hell'' #1-6 (DC Comics) *'' Billy the Kid's Old-Timey Oddities'' #1-4 (Dark Horse Comics) *''Billy the Kid's Old-Timey Oddities'' trade collection (Dark Horse Comics) *'' Dethklok vs. The Goon'' (Dark Horse Comics) *'' Freddy vs. Jason vs. Ash'' (DC Comics/

Dynamite Entertainment Dynamite Entertainment is an American comic book publisher founded by Nick Barrucci in 2004 at Mount Laurel, New Jersey. It is best known as the owners of '' The Boys'' franchise across several IP medias. Dynamite primarily publishes adaptation ...

) *''Fused: Think Like a Machine'' #1-2 (Dark Horse Comics)) *''Fused: Think Like a Machine'' trade collection (Dark Horse Comics) *''Marvel Monsters'' #1-4 (Marvel Comics) *''Marvel Monsters'' trade collection (Marvel Comics) *''Marvel Westerns: Western'' #1 (Marvel Comics) *''Marvel Westerns: Kid Colt and the Arizona'' #2 (Marvel Comics) *''Marvel Westerns: The Two Gun'' #3 (Marvel Comics) *''

Metalocalypse ''Metalocalypse'' is an American adult animated television series, created by Brendon Small and Tommy Blacha, which premiered on August 6, 2006, followed by a musical one-hour special, '' Metalocalypse: The Doomstar Requiem'', on October 27, 2 ...

'' #1-3 (Dark Horse Comics) *''Super-Villain Team-Up/MODOK'S 11'' #1 (Marvel Comics) *''

Swamp Thing The Swamp Thing is a superhero in American comic books published by DC Comics. A humanoid/plant elemental List of swamp monsters, creature, created by writer Len Wein and artist Bernie Wrightson, the Swamp Thing has had several humanoid or mo ...

'' #21-29 (DC Comics) *''

Tales of the Vampires ''Tales of the Vampires'' is a five issue American comic book limited series (later collected in a single trade paperback), published by Dark Horse Comics and set in the Buffyverse. It comprises an anthology of short stories written by Joss Wh ...

'' #3 (Dark Horse Comics) *''Universal Monsters: Cavalcade of Horror'' trade collection (Dark Horse Comics)

Career

Awards

Bibliography

Books illustrated

Cover work

References

External links